Discussion of those who claim that angels descend upon them and inform them of hidden matters and the like.

The questioner : This question is far from the topic of Hajj, but that is fine.

The Shaykh : Please.

The questioner : May Allah increase you in favor. Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: I seek forgiveness from Allah the Great. Generally, I will postpone the verse. Did you know that recently, people have been claiming that angels descend upon them?

The Shaykh : What Allah willed.

The questioner : And they speak to them and inform them of things they convey to people, and they derive some evidence from this, such as the saying of Allah the Exalted: And if you were to speak to them, you would find that they find some evidence from the Qur'an. They are not one or two, but a group who meet, but there is no organization among them.

The Shaykh : But what is it?

The questioner : Except what I mentioned.

The Shaykh : But what is it?

The questioner : They do not form a group.

Another questioner : And in addition to the brother's statement, some of them mention that it is the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) who comes to them.

The Shaykh : What Allah willed.

The questioner : And they order them to convey messages to certain people. As far as I know, they have gone to some of those present in this assembly and informed them about prophets that they read to them greetings and say to them such and such.

The Shaykh : What Allah willed. These people seem to be from the Sufis who do not know the Book and the Sunnah. The verse you mentioned is most likely the previous verse. What was its beginning? When do the angels descend upon them? That is, when they are in childhood, for example. I mean, let's start from where you like.

The questioner : At forty.

The Shaykh : In childhood? No. Well, in youth? No. In thirties? The matter is close. In the forties, fifties, and so on. We say, wherever the speaker places it in one of these ages, we say, "Bring your proof." The Sunnah says, in the interpretation of this verse: Meaning, the angels descend when death and passing away are present. This is the meaning of the verse. But these people who have gone astray are those who ride their heads and impose their ignorance on the verses of Allah and the hadiths of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), interpreting them according to their desires. Therefore, we always and forever say that the true call is that which is based on three principles, not just two, which are the Book and the Sunnah. We say the true call is confined to relying on the Book and the Sunnah, and on what the righteous Salaf were upon in interpreting the Book and the Sunnah. And this, without a doubt, to understand Islam on these three foundations requires knowledge, continuous effort, and extraordinary activity that only the men of resolve can achieve. Since most men do not have this activity or this readiness, they come to knowledge through the nearest door. What is that? "My heart informed me of my Lord." And without knowledge, and without the yellow books they talk about and the like. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not encourage gatherings of knowledge, nor did he say like his saying (peace be upon him): Except to block, with this encouragement to seek knowledge, the path of those misguided ones who turn away from seeking knowledge from its doors and rely on their ignorance and misguidance. I believe that if these people were the most eloquent of those who spoke the Arabic language, meaning they knew the Arabic language, they would not have been able to interpret the Qur'an correctly. How much more so since they may be from the common people.

The questioner : Rather, they are ignorant of the language.

The Shaykh : You have spoken well. And therefore, I know this from the reality of people. In fact, I say that if they were the most eloquent of the Arabs, they would never have been able to understand the Qur'an correctly. And whoever wants to understand the Qur'an other than through the way of the Messenger (peace be upon him) is a disbeliever, because faith is the condition, or Islam is the first condition, that you testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. So if we imagine a man who says, "I testify that there is no god but Allah," but says with his tongue or with his state, "I do not take knowledge from the Messenger of Allah; I take knowledge directly from Allah," then he is a disbeliever. If there were an Islamic ruling and a judge who judges by what Allah has revealed, he would cut off his head, because this is not a believer. The testimony that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah is what cuts off the root of those liars who interpret the Qur'an according to their desires. Therefore, whoever says that the angels greet them and speak with them and inform them of hidden news, these are very old Sufi ideas. And now some hypocrites have started to revive the Sufism that was almost dead in the modern era due to the spread of correct knowledge, the Book and the Sunnah. And therefore, they rebelled out of harm and started to revive Sufism by imposing the ignorant to interpret the Qur'an with their ignorance and desires. Therefore, we say, beware of them, and seek knowledge through the way of the Book and the Sunnah, and on the methodology of the righteous Salaf.